Free To Be Me

Learning to grow Petunias

~  Free To Be Me ~

When life is joyfully interwoven

with lover, family, friends, we hardly

 notice morphing into one another while

living to please as much as possible

out of mutual love and respect

When suddenly we lose our love

must do life on our own, re-discover 

who we are; find our new identity, learn

if we can fit in what was once familiar

now upside down - forever changed

<><><><><><><><>

I never sought to be free, dear heart,

I loved the life we had — still cherish it

yet slowly, buried bits of me come back

the young girl, a new old me unedited

without love’s checks and balances

free to test the limits of my soul

free to be, free to be — me

JoMae

9/27/21

Retrospective

My Delicate Swirling Blue Glass

~ Retrospective ~

An annotated scrapbook

saving echoes of our lifetime

memories reminiscent of days

finished long ago -- ended, yet

hover at the edge of my mind

 swirling over,  languid waves 

lapping gently on the shore

catching me off guard  as

I peer into the unknown

to savor all that was,

that is, in wonder

JoMae

9/23/21

Dear Heart

Death - Birth Of New Beginnings

~ Dear Heart ~

When you were lifted from the train

it stopped and I was taken off as well

each thrown into separate destinations

against our will - yours was named death

mine, death of all I’d ever found familiar

Stepping into unknown foreign worlds

I floundered into a dark void  where

silence reigns, terrains heave and

old norms seem upside down

<><><><><>

Until in time new time begins

an after chapter writes itself

out of old ink melded from

before - a fresh identity

gliding on the sweet

echo of your wings

dear heart, a new

JoMae

JoMae

9/19/21

A gift of death that did us part…

Mantle Of Love

~ Mantle of Love ~

As subtle as a wispy cloud

the visions come to me

breathing softly on my heart

in dreams of memory

Moments long now disappeared

float as a mystery to cheer

to bring a smile, recall the touch

of the love we held so dear

Soft as geranium's blossom

warm as a tender hug

the mantle of a long love lost

may soothe a soul forever

JoMae

9/11/21

Grief -- A Metamorphosis

John & JoMae 8/29/59

 ~ Widowed ~

Grief is a huge transition
the loss of all familiar patterns
in one’s life — the universe has shifted
you feel oddly out of place without your love
for half of you is missing, one shoe has fallen off

Grief is also metamorphosis
a long slow patient process while
the butterfly is forming — while seeds of
life are sprouting preparing buds to flower
watch notice trust — new life will form in you

Trust the seed within a tragedy
buried in unexpected change that
devastates and lays you low -- please
know this, deep sparks will quietly emerge
first unseen, their glow will one day blossom in

New Life

JoMae
11/18/19

Haiku - Blessings

~ Blessings ~

counting my blessings

instead of disappointments

helps bright smiles blossom

JoMae

6/23/21